POCKET ACES

Saturday, July 15, 2000
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Pocket Aces

More Poker Moves We Can Do Without

By Maryann Guberman

      Of all the e-mails and phone calls I received about the last two columns, only one was critical.

     "You can't go around telling people that players cheat," the caller said.

     Excuse me? This isn't a forum that, like magazines, depends on advertising for its income and the purpose of instructing players in all facets of the game is to help them become the best they can become. Part of that whole concept includes letting them know all aspects of the game -- consequential and petty -- that can influence their bankroll. After all, these aren't the days of the riverboat gamblers with cards up their sleeves and derringers in their vest pockets. These aren't the days of poker rooms run by former rounders and grifters whose friends make up half the players at a table. These are the days of good, clean games, of the ultimate in cerebral competition. These are the days of games provided by companies and corporations (otherwise known as casinos) that have licenses to protect‹an important factor in this mix. Overall, I think the casino cardrooms do a decent job of patrolling their games, but they're not, by any means, perfect so you have to be on your toes, you have to recognize problems, and you have to ask that they be stopped.

     Unfortunately, floormen and dealers don't always enforce the rules tightly enough. Sometimes they can't, in the case of not recognizing partner play; other times they just turn their heads because, well, it's a friendly game and what looks and sounds like chatter and conversation doesn't register as "cheating."

     Years ago, when the Tropicana had a large, comfortable and jumping poker room, I was playing in a low-limit stud game. A jittery young man at the hold'em table nearby, dancing in his seat, tilting his chair back, got his chips into the center of the table with an arching toss. "Well, if I don't win this one, I'm busted and outta here," he said.

     He didn't win that pot, and he did get up from the table. But he did not leave the room. He fished a twenty out of his pocket and plopped into an empty seat at my table. He proceeded to tell everyone how badly he'd done at hold'em and how he must have left his luck at home. Wouldn't you know, in his first hand, he was low and had to bring the wager in. He moaned as he threw his two quarters in and made a remark about how things didn't look any better at this table. This was a loose kind of game consisting of five tourists, two of whom were man and wife, myself and this new player. I had three cards to a straight, two suited, so I stayed in the hand, knowing all the while that if the table stayed true to form, all the others would stay in the pot too. Nobody seemed to improve much on fourth street but on fifth street the kid paired his door card, giving him a weak pair. He checked but called one player's wager. The kid's next card was a ten, one that would have improved my hand. Now he quickly picked up his chips and threw his bet in, pushing is chair back slightly and smiling. "Well, maybe my luck is changing," he said.

     I was the only person to fold and by the river, the kid announced that he was sure nobody could beat him. He bet and everyone folded.

     Two hands later, he had a king showing. By seventh street against all players by me, everyone checked to him so he bet and said, "If anyone can beat kings up, I lose."

     I was pretty sure he didn't have kings up because I had folded a king and another player had a king showing and the rest of his, according to the cards I'd seen were dead. At best, he might have had a pair of something. But his little show-and-tell brought the desired reaction. The nice old guy next to me threw away his aces and said, "Well, I can't beat that."

     The kid's twenty was now more than doubled so he picked up his chips, turned around, and armed with bullets, took his old seat in the hold'em game.

      At some point in this game, the dealer should have asked this kid to play his hand silently, but that didn't happen. As someone who'd been in and out of poker rooms for several years, I recognized what he was doing and since the dealer didn't move to stop him, I did my part. Without fanfare and in a normal tone of voice I said, "You know, you shouldn't pay attention to people like that. He probably didn't have two pair."

     There was more to the story, but to be brief, I explained the tactics and implications of the kid's actions, made it clear that I thought his moves bordered on cheating, and told him that if he ever saw this again, he should ask the dealer to call the floorman.

     You have to learn to be your own policeman because even the best of places can't always pay enough attention to put a stop to activity that tilts the game.

     In addition to the behavior cited above, here are a few moves you can watch for and report if the dealer doesn't step in automatically.

     Kibitzing: Players discussing their hands with each other, usually after one or both have folded. While not too harmful overall, this move could give an active player information that could beat you.

     More than one player to a hand: Players showing their cards to a railbird and getting any kind of reaction. You might see a look in the outsider's face that indicates strength in his buddy's hand when, in fact, the look is an act.

     Splashing the pot: I've seen this many times, particularly in tournaments where there's no rake. A player will throw chips wildly into the center of the table so they scatter. Now you don't know if he bet (or raised) the correct amount.

     Chatter: A player might try to fool you into thinking your own hand is stronger than his (rather than weaker as with the kid mentioned above). "You don't have another king, do you?"

     None of this is meant to scare you from playing in a public cardroom. You might not see or hear anything like this in all your visits to a casino. Then again, you could encounter a half dozen episodes in just as many trips. What it's meant to do is to make you aware of all the little things that can happen to you. It's tough enough to overcome a bad run of cards, a few bad beats, and tough competition. You don't need an "invisible" player stacking the odds against you.